Tuesday 31 May 2011

A first attempt at Art Journalling, and a change of heart

9.30 am
Thanks for your comments and advice about art journalling, The thing that came over most strongly was. "It doesn't matter. There are no rules". Now, that is not the easiest thing for me to digest. I like rules and guidelines. I like to know I'm 'doing it right'. Still, on the last day of May, I grasped the bull by the horns and sat down with M to do some messy stuff.
I covered an unused calendar page with pearly paint and stamped all over with flowers.  I found some little chipboard embellishments I'd had for ages which matched perfectly so adhered those, together with some fabric letters. Finally, I added journalling around the edge and a doodle in the corner.  So far, so scrapbooky, and not too scary. In fact, it was fun. I think my problem is that, unlike with scrapbooking and cardmaking, the focus is on the process, not the result. I kept thinking "Where is this going? What am I going to use it for?" And, of course, the answer is "Nothing". If I do go for this and buy a journal, it will work as a first page, though it's a bit too 'pretty'' and colour co-ordinated; not as edgy as the fab journals I see on other blogs.

For the moment, It's pinned to my inspiration board above my desk. We all have to start somewhere, and it hasn't cost me anything (yet) and allowed me a lovely hour spent with my daughter. Maybe that's really what I should focus on. Thanks for your help. Any further comments will be very much appreciated.
10.30am
No sooner had I written this and saved it to post later, than I started catching up with blogs on my Dashboard and came across this. I had never heard of SMASHbooks, but someone on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge team must have been reading my mind.  I thought I wanted art journalling, but this is exactly what I was looking for. A way to jazz up my record keeping of my holiday, which can involve all the family (scrapbooking is mine alone) I can include some art journalling as well, but it doesn't need to take centre stage. I'm off to buy a cheap book to start things with and then I'll get counterfeiting (although I think I may place an order for a real SMASH pen - very cool)


2 comments:

Melissa said...

I really like that you used the calendar page for an art journal page - great idea. I have some old calendars in my scrapping stash and might have to pull a few pages out and try this.

The Smash books remind me of the way I started out scrapbooking as a kid - putting memorabilia in a scrapbook with notes & other bits & pieces.

Unknown said...

Using a Calender page is a great idea, and it works really well as a background. I don't know a lot about Smash books, but do keep hearing about them, might have a look.